Players need to deal with expectations, says Bennett

Ryan Bennett has spoken of the ‘incredible’ atmosphere the Wolves fans generate at Molineux and expects that support to continue as Newcastle United are the visitors to the stadium on Monday evening.

The defender has become a regular member of Nuno Espirito Santo’s starting line-up this season and has relished the buzz around the club since he joined at the start of the previous campaign.

And Bennett, who has been part of the squad which spent the last five days on a warm weather training camp in Marbella, has noticed similarities between the supporters of both Wolves and Newcastle heading into tomorrow night’s fixture.

On the atmosphere at Molineux

“It’s been incredible. I spoke to a few of the boys before I joined because when you come here as an away team, like I have before, it’s always been that if we start well, the fans will be on the players’ backs, but it’s been going well for the last year-and-a-half.

“There is that little bit of expectancy now and we’ve got to deal with that, but the fans have been with us since day one, every time we’re home or away it’s sold out – even against Shrewsbury, it was a fourth-round replay on a Tuesday night and it was sold out.

“It’s very unusual that a team would sell out this kind of game and they even had to open the stands which were originally closed, which is a credit to the fans.”

On The Magpies

“You look at Newcastle and it’s a massive club. There’s always that expectation there, even now the fans believe they are not doing as well as they think they should be.

“But you go there and it’s similar to us; if you start well as an away team, the fans will be on the players’ backs.

“There’s also things going on behind the scenes that people are not too happy about, but you look at some of the signings they’ve made, some of the sorts of contracts the players are on there, and it’s still a massive club and it’s going to be a tough game.”

On current form

“It’s been a good season so far, but we set the standard last year and it’s just continued into this season.

“When I came into the club there was a lot of change and a lot of turnaround, but this is all I’ve known since I’ve been here.

“There has always been that buzz around the place, with people expecting big things and fortunately up to this point we’ve provided that, and we just need to keep continuing to do that.”

On being a regular starter

“I think, at different points, I have been surprised that I’m still starting regularly. There have been times, if look back at the start of the season, I didn’t know if I was going to play, and I didn’t play for the first 14 games of last year.

“People start asking questions, but you’ve got to keep your head down and keep working hard.